The Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network is currently in the process of putting together a benchmark study to measure the progress for women that work in commercial real estate, a report it compiles every five years.
In its most-recent report in 2020, which saw just under 3,000 industry professionals in Canada, the United States, and United Kingdom participate in the survey, over 80% of which were women. The 2020 report found that women represent 35.9% of all commercial real estate professionals in Canada, which was slightly below the US (36.9%), but above the UK (31.8%).
The report also included data specifically about the positions those women hold. While there was no country-by-country breakdown, the report found that, globally, 47.2% of women in CRE held financial or professional services roles (marketing, accounting, legal, among others). This was by far the most common specialization for women, followed by 21.6% in development (including construction and design) and 17.4% in asset and property management.
Last on the list, however, was in brokerages, whether it be sales or leasing, at just 9.6%. (A remaining 4.2% selected "other.")
"Over time, the percentage of women in commercial real estate has remained consistently between 35-37%," said the CREW Network. "Asset management and finance have had the greatest percentage of women year after year, although that share decreased in 2020. Brokerage has had the lowest percentage of women in each study, although the percentage has increased since 2010."
We will await the results of the 2025 report to see whether any progress has been made in recent years, but in the meantime, and in light of International Women's Day on March 8, STOREYS is spotlighting a group of prominent female commercial real estate brokers in some of Canada's largest markets — Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta.
Brittany Block
Current Position: Vice President, Colliers, Calgary
Bio: Brittany is part of Colliers' Suburban & Beltline Office Leasing Team in Calgary, specializing in portfolio management, asset optimization, and representing both landlords and tenants.
She joined Colliers in September 2013 as a Leasing Assistant, before moving up to Associate Vice President and most recently Vice President in January 2025.
Outside of Colliers, she has been a long-time Director of CREW Calgary, most notable serving as President of the Board of Directors for 2024.
Jennifer Darling
Current Position: Senior Associate, Colliers, Vancouver
Bio: Jennifer joined Colliers in September 2015 as a Senior Associate and has since found her niche: sales that involve courts of law, whether it be court-ordered sales or strata wind-ups.
She and colleague Hart Buck make up a duo that has been one of the go-to teams for court-ordered sales in Vancouver (and also currently has a court-ordered listing in Calgary with the aforementioned Britanny Block).
Since joining Colliers, she won the Rookie of the Year award and was also a member of Colliers' Top 10 Women Advisors In Canada list in 2023.
Jessica Hathaway
Current Position: Associate Vice President, Colliers, Vancouver
Bio: A colleague of Jennifer Darling, Jessica joined Colliers in December 2012 as a Client Project Coordinator. She then moved up to Senior Associate in July 2016, then Associate Vice President in January 2021.
Along the way, she also won a Rookie of the Year award at Colliers, as well as the NAIOP Developing Leader Award in 2022. Jessica works alongside Simon Lim and James Lang as the Vancouver Investment Development Advisory (VIDA) team and they are regularly involved in sales of development sites, with notable past clients including Bosa Properties, Wall Financial, and Beedie.
Prior to joining Colliers, she had stints with development companies such as Bosa Properties and Amacon, and she remains an active member of CREW Vancouver as well, previously serving on the Events Committee.
Lyndsay Hopps
Current Position: Senior Vice President & Principal, Avison Young, Toronto
Bio: Lyndsay has accumulated well over 15 years of experience. After six years at CBRE, she joined Avison Young in September 2014 at a Vice President, before becoming a Principal the next year, then adding Senior Vice President to her title in January 2025.
She specializes in industrial and office real estate in the Greater Toronto Area, and the GTA West submarkets of Oakville, Burlington, and South West Mississauga in particular. She works with tenants and owners on both leasing and sales, and is skilled in needs analysis and negotiations.
Outside of Avison Young, Lyndsay was also a founding member of CRE8, a networking and social group for women brokers and landlords in commercial real estate in Toronto.
Alexandra Ivashenko
Current Position: Vice President, TD Cornerstone Commercial Realty, Toronto
Bio: Alexandra started in the finance world as a Sales and Trading Associate at TD Securities in August 2014. She then left and joined Brookfield Financial in 2015, where she rose from an Analyst to an Associate.
She then returned to TD Securities in April 2019 as an Associate, before moving up to Vice President in January 2023.
She and her TD Cornerstone team are involved in acquisitions and dispositions all of asset classes for an assortment of high-profile institutional investor clients, such as Cadillac Fairview, on behalf of whom Alex and her team recently listed the Yonge Corporate Centre.
Left to right: Brittany Block, Jennifer Darling, Jessica Hathaway, Lyndsay Hopps, and Alexandra Ivashenko.
Cynthia Jagger
Current Position: Executive Vice President, CBRE, Vancouver
Bio: One of the more prominent brokers in Vancouver (regardless of gender), Cynthia started off in appraisals as a consultant at Altus Group in April 2006. She moved up to Senior Consultant in January 2014, then became a Director at the end of that same year. She was then recruited by Goodman Commercial and joined the company as a Principal, where she brokered numerous sales and co-authored numerous op-eds on development issues.
In December 2023, she moved to Dexter Realty, Goodman Commercial's sister brokerage, before joining CBRE Vancouver's National Investment Team earlier this year.
Over the years, Cynthia has also been a longtime member of UDI BC, serving on the Executive Committee as well as Vice-Chair of the Rental Housing Issues Committee.
Jane Pascal
Current Position: Vice President, Institutional Property Advisors (Marcus & Millichap), Edmonton
Bio: Jane is currently a member of the Institutional Property Advisors team, a division of Marcus & Millichap, that's based out of Edmonton, where she and the IPA team handle an almost dizzying amount of sales, many of which involve large institutional investors.
The team specializes in multi-family properties and development land, primarily in Alberta, but is also active in other regions of Western Canada.
Prior to joining the IPA team, Jane was with CBRE for two years, and she has been a longtime member of Edmonton CREW's Board of Directors.
Bronwyn Scrivens
Current Position: Vice President, JLL, Edmonton
Bio: Also based in Edmonton, Bronwyn started her career in finance with Canadian Western Bank before joining Cushman & Wakefield's industrial sales and leasing time in January 2015. After about five years, she then joined Omada Commercial as an Associate Broker, where she spent another five years.
Most recently, she joined JLL in June 2024, where she is now a Vice President, specializing in sales and leasing as it relates to industrial assets around the Greater Edmonton region and Alberta.
Additionally, she has held numerous roles on the Board of Directors of NAIOP Edmonton, and is now also serving as the Regional Director of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) in Canada.
Lauren White
Current Position: Executive Vice President, CBRE, Toronto
Bio: Lauren is now going on 19 years at CBRE's Land Services Group. Since joining the group in May 2006, she has been involved in approximately $4.2 billion in sales.
She now co-leads the group alongside Mike Czestochowski and the team is one of the rare CRE teams in Canada that is majority-female, suggesting that having women in leadership positions indeed makes a difference.
In 2021, Lauren was the second-ranked sales representative in the CBRE Toronto North office, and she also has extensive experience with court-ordered sales.
Stephanie Yeargin
Current Position: Associate Vice President, Avison Young, Vancouver
Bio: Starting as a Research Coordinator for Avison Young in July 2018 straight out of UBC, Stephanie moved up to Associate in May 2019, then Senior Associate in October 2022, before recently rising to Associate Vice President in January 2025.
She specializes in helping tenants navigate renewals, expansions, contractions, and relocations in the Metro Vancouver office market, where she works alongside Glenn Gardner.
She won Avison Young's National Client Care & Delivery Award in 2020, the Global Diversity & Inclusion Champion Award in 2021, and was a finalist for NAIOP Vancouver's Developing Leader Award in 2024.
Left to right: Cynthia Jagger, Jane Pascal, Bronwyn Scrivens, Lauren White, and Stephanie Yeargin.
